Jeremiah 4

Jeremiah · Chapter 4

Jeremiah 4:17

1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.2And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.3For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.5Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.7The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.9And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.10Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,12Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?15For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.16Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.17As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.18Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.29The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.30And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
17As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Where

Locations from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Some ancient sites are uncertain.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
like [those who] guardכְּשֹׁמְרֵ֣יke-sho-me-REIH8104H
to keep: obey

שָׁמַר (sha.mar) : obey/observe 1) to keep, guard, observe, give heed 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to keep, have charge of 1a2) to keep, guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save life 1a2a) watch, watchman (participle) 1a3) to watch for, wait for 1a4) to watch, observe 1a5) to keep, retain, treasure up (in memory) 1a6) to keep (within bounds), restrain 1a7) to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow) 1a8) to keep, preserve, protect 1a9) to keep, reserve 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be on one's guard, take heed, take care, beware 1b2) to keep oneself, refrain, abstain 1b3) to be kept, be guarded …

of a fieldשָׂדַ֔יsa-DAIH7704MNo entry
they areהָי֥וּha-YUH1961
to be

הָיָה (ha.yah) 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out 1a) (Qal) 1a1) --- 1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass 1a1b) to come about, come to pass 1a2) to come into being, become 1a2a) to arise, appear, come 1a2b) to become 1a2b1) to become 1a2b2) to become like 1a2b3) to be instituted, be established 1a3) to be 1a3a) to exist, be in existence 1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time) 1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality) 1a3d) to accompany, be with 1b) (Niphal) …

on itעָלֶ֖יהָ'a-LEI-haH5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

from round aboutמִסָּבִ֑יבmi-sa-VIVH5439G
around

סָבִיב (sa.viv) : around/border subst 1) places round about, circuit, round about adv 2) in a circuit, a circuit, round about prep 3) in the circuit, from every side

forכִּי־ki-H3588A
for

כִּי (ki) 1) that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since 1a) that 1a1) yea, indeed 1b) when (of time) 1b1) when, if, though (with a concessive force) 1c) because, since (causal connection) 1d) but (after negative) 1e) that if, for if, indeed if, for though, but if 1f) but rather, but 1g) except that 1h) only, nevertheless 1i) surely 1j) that is 1k) but if 1l) for though 1m) forasmuch as, for therefore

it has been rebellious againstמָרָ֖תָהma-RA-tahH4784
to rebel

מָרָה (ma.rah) 1) to be contentious, be rebellious, be refractory, be disobedient towards, be rebellious against 1a) (Qal) to be disobedient, be rebellious 1a1) towards father 1a2) towards God 1b) (Hiphil) to show rebelliousness, show disobedience, disobey

[the] utterance ofנְאֻם־ne-'um-H5002
utterance

נְאֻם (ne.um) 1) (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet) 1a) utterance, declaration, revelation (of prophet in ecstatic state) 1b) utterance, declaration (elsewhere always preceding divine name)

Yahwehיְהוָֽה׃YAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.